Odisha Government to set up comprehensive pre- hospital emergency medical service

Another feather has been added to the Health care Services of the State today . The Odisha Government has decided to set up comprehensive pre- hospital emergency medical service with introduction of a fleet of ambulances to cover the entire State in a phased manner.

The initiative of the Department of Health & Family Welfare, this will facilitate an integrated and comprehensive emergency health care management in the  State providing high-end ambulance transportation system from the doorstep of the patient to the appropriate care in a hospital.

 MOU between National Rural Health Mission functioning under Health & Family Welfare Department Government of Odisha and was solemnized in presence of Sri Prasanna Acharya Minister Health & Family Welfare  today , the  1st  August  2012 for this facility covering fifteen districts-Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Ganjam, Rayagada and Koraput. Sri Pradipta kumar Mohapatra Commissioner-cum-Secretary Health & Family Welfare signed the MOU on behalf of Government of Odisha with Ziqitza Health Care Ltd.

There will be one ambulance per one lakhs population at an average. This fleet will   comprise of both ‘Basic Life Support’ (BLS) and ‘Advance Life Support’ (ALS) ambulances. ‘Odisha Emergency  Medical Ambulance Service’ (OEMAS) will be  implemented in the entire State in a phased manner on  the basis of implementation feasibility, equity, and  need . The mix of ALS and BLS shall be in the proportion of 20:80 .There shall be a total number of 420 ambulances for the entire State but in phases and in the 1st phase, 280 ambulances will be operationalized in above 15 identified districts. Trauma Corridor in Orissa across National highways have been covered in this phase .

The aim is to provide quality emergency care transport within the shortest possible time in an emergency, ensure delivery of quality emergency care across the chain of services with a proper emergency management system.

The average response time of 20 minutes for urban locations and 35 minutes for rural locations will be kept as performance parameters. However,  response time can be made more  flexible depending upon the geographical conditions especially in KBK regions, for which the time may vary from 45-60 minutes.Mapping and defining of strategic positioning of the ambulances with  route maps, motorable points, nearest catch points in case of non-motorable locations. Conduct facility survey to assess the existing health facilities in the State and to identify critical gaps at facility level, if any for improvement and to facilitate the operation of OEMAS. 

24×7 pre-hospital emergency transportation care (Ambulance) services across the State within agreed response time will facilitate, reduction of maternal and child mortality as well as deaths and disabilities providing medical attention within golden hour. Management of disaster and epidemic outbreaks, uninterrupted functioning of the call centre/ control room and overall Emergency Response Service ensuring that no call is left  unattended, The State Government shall finance and own all capital assets under the project .

However, the Agency shall provide necessary technical and managerial support including trained manpower and required software (Call Centre, Advance Vehicle Tracking using GPS technology) to implement and operate the emergency medical ambulance service in the manner setout by the department. The responsibility of the agency shall include entire activities required to install and implement the service as per the agreed terms and conditions set out in the RFP. The procurement of assets shall be done by the Agency through the purchase committee having two members from government side following the public procurement principles and process.

Chief Secretary Sri Bijaya kumar Pattanaik was also present during the MOU signing in ceremony .Dr Pramod Meherda Mission Director NRHM briefed on the project in his welcome address.